News/Blog

There is an importance of compiling a medical history, and while a record of your medical history is essential to your doctor-patient relationship, there are even more ways to improve on it.

One of those ways is by keeping a health journal, which is a very detailed record of your daily activities, diet, medications, and feelings.

Reasons to keep a health journal:

A health journal can be a great way to keep track of the general state of your body, the effectiveness of your current lifestyle, and weight loss progress. The ability to look back on your previous activities and food consumption provides an accurate and expansive window through which you can assess your habits, and make decisions based off of the information you’ve collected.

Many people with chronic pain or concerning symptoms rely on a health journal to stay on top of their medical issues and improve communication with their physicians. Cross-referencing flare-ups and symptomatic occurrences with activities and foods can shed light on triggers.

What to record in your health journal:

Sleep: How did you sleep the night before? How long did you sleep? What time did you go to bed, and what did you do before you fell asleep?

Medications: If you take any medications, vitamins, or supplements, record what they are and when you take them.
Physical Activity: Any exercise or out-of-the-ordinary strenuous activity can have a significant impact on your health, and should definitely be included.

Symptoms: Any physical symptoms you experience should be recorded in detail. What time you experience them and the level of severity and length should be noted.

Food/Drink: Record anything you consume throughout the day, and be as detailed as possible. What did you eat, and how much? Where did you eat? Who prepared the food?

Emotions: Health is about more than simply the physical aspects. Being aware of your mood and recording any drastic changes is essential to health tracking.

Helpful hints/how to get started:

Talk to your doctor. Even if you are starting a journal simply for general health observation, it can be very helpful to ask your doctor what to include. Based on your medical history, he or she might have specific concerns or insight that will aid in accuracy and effectiveness.

Find a journal that works for you. The options for a health journal are endless. Even something as simple as a one subject notebook with each day’s date at the top of the page can work if that’s a format that you favor. There are also options for printable journal pages, and even apps that keep all of your information on your smart device.

Keep your journal in an easily-accessible place. Whether it’s your kitchen, purse, or bathroom, keep your health journal in a place that you frequently visit or use. The kitchen is usually ideal, because foods, beverages, and medicines are often found there. Recording what you eat is much easier when the diary is close to the refrigerator.

Be honest. Recording false or altered information, for whatever reason, will only deter your efforts as you try to assess your health. Remember that your doctor is on your side, and that open communication is essential to the doctor/patient relationship.

We hope you’ll find these tips useful in enhancing your health care experience. We deeply value honesty between our patients and team members, and a health journal can be an incredible tool in that line of communication.

February is American Heart Month. It’s a great time to make strides in taking better care of your body and your health. But, while we all know we should take better care of ourselves, it’s actually easier said than done. Find ways to motivate and challenge ourselves and track our progress can be truly helpful.

Now, this very motivation and accountability is available—literally–at your fingertips. With the increase in smart phones has come an increase in apps (applications) to meet every need you could imagine. Health and wellness is no exception.

We’re here to share a list of our favorite apps to help you stay healthy. Most are free or cost less than $5 to download.

Daily Burn

Description: Of all the apps, this one does the best job of combining exercise and diet. Not only are you able to log your daily meals and snacks, you can also scan barcodes of food items to find full nutritional value. This app also creates sample workout plans for a variety of levels.Cost: FreeLearn more here

My Fitness Pal

Description: Track calories in and calories out with My Fitness Pal. You can track each item of your meals and snacks as well as the calories burned from your daily exercise. If what you’re looking for is accountability to help you stay on track, this is a great app for you!Cost: FreeLearn more here

FitJourney

Description: FitJourney helps you track your weight loss by photographs. It keeps track of your weight, what you’ve eaten (with photographs as well), and can even give a decent estimate of your BMI. The visual component is powerful in helping you in your journey to lose weight, but the one big downside to this app is that it doesn’t offer much guidance, just accountability. For the self-motivated, visual person, it’s a great fit!Cost: FreeLearn more here

Nike Training Club

Description: The Nike Training Club app actually works like a personal trainer, containing a variety of workouts that include strength and cross training, cardio, and yoga. With videos to help you see what each move should look like, you’re never in the dark with any of your workouts. The one negative to this app is that if you are a beginner, it might be best to wait a few weeks after you’ve begun exercising to try it, or you may have to modify some of the workouts to fit your needs.Cost: FreeLearn more here

Fitness Builder

Description: FitnessBuilder contains the largest library of exercise images & videos (over 7,000) produced with excellent form by our exercise physiologist, physical therapy and orthopedist team. It features the most challenging workouts across all disciplines (over 900), access to a live personal trainer and the most complete set of workout building & performing tools, fitness calculators, tracking, scheduling and progress graphing features –on this app and syncing to the web. If you are a beginner, this might not be the app for you. However, if you have a solid working out experience, you will definitely benefit from this one!Cost: This app is free for one month. After that trial period, the Plus version costs $7. It’s the most expensive version, but definitely worth it.Learn more here

Lose It!

Description: This app is another great option to track your calories consumed and burned. Another great feature is that it allows you to set goals of what you would like to consume for proteins, fats, carbs, etc. It also tracks your progress and allows you to connect with friends to receive accountability and encouragement.Cost: FreeLearn more here

Fooducate

Description: Lose weight, track your progress, and eat REAL food. This is one of the only apps that looks beyond the calorie and helps you eat healthy and tasty. Scan a product barcode to see what’s really in your food. Fooducate will also show you healthier alternatives. The one thing some may not love about this app is that real food substitutes often require cooking from scratch. If you are pressed for time, it can can be difficult to cook from scratch. However, we think that cooking from scratch can be fun and gets faster with time!Cost: Free, or “Plus” version available for $3.99Learn more here

My Diet Coach

Description: (Note: this app is only available for women) My Diet Coach helps keep you motivated and committed to lose weight fast. It will motivate you, help keep you on track, resist food cravings, temptations, emotional eating, exercise laziness and other challenges by motivational arguments and guidelines, helpful and necessary reminders, notifications with your goal, and motivational photos and weight chart.Cost: Free, an upgraded version is available for $0.99Learn more here

Couch to 5K

Description: If one of your goals is to run a 5K, this is the app for you. The popular Couch to 5K program is a great way to help you exercise more and meet a specific goal at the end of your time.Cost: FreeLearn more here

Gympact

Description: This app is the most unique, and is also a fairly new app. The idea behind it is really great, but we don’t know a lot about how well it works. Each week you set your exercise and healthy eating goals each week and put a monetary value with each goal (working out a certain number of times each week, eating fruits or vegetables with every meal, etc). You snap photos of each meal and have them verified by other members, and check in to the gym, or track workouts via GPS and accelerometer. As you meet your goals, you will receive weekly notifications of your earnings. Missing a goal will cost, however!Cost: FreeLearn more here

With such a wide range of apps available to meet every kind of fitness goal and plan, it’s easier than ever to live healthy. Which apps are your favorite? We would love for you to share them in the comments below!Note: as always, before you begin any exercise routine, it is important to consult with your doctor and get the best insight into what kind of exercise and what level is best for you. These apps are merely suggestions, and should be used until you have spoken with your doctor more.

It’s normal to have questions and anxieties when facing any kind of health issue, whether it’s an illness, injury, surgery, recovery, etc. Every patient wants to receive the best care possible, but did you know that patients play a big role in the care that they receive? Inherent in any medical care is relationships — relationships between the patient and practitioners (physicians, therapists, nurses, etc.). When patients come prepared with the best knowledge of their symptoms, medical history, and current circumstances, the practitioners have a better understanding of their patients and can offer the best treatment plan.

So what does it mean to “come prepared”?

PARTICIPATING IN YOUR HEALTHCARE: 1. MAKE A LIST

Time with practitioners is often limited, so by making a list of things you’d like to address you will make the most of that limited time. What symptom(s) is worrying you the most? Try to pinpoint when it started and anything that makes it better or worse. Avoid waiting until the practitioner is leaving the room to bring up another symptom or concern. Undivided attention is important in patient/practitioner communication.

Patients will often hesitate to discuss financial or family concerns to practitioners. Health issues can be scary and it’s not easy to talk about them, even with your own doctors. Practitioners understand that medical problems and treatment are both financially and emotionally taxing. Don’t be afraid to communicate those concerns! Are you worried about how you will pay for your healthcare and prescriptions? There may be programs to help you. If your practitioner doesn’t immediately know the answer he/she will direct you to a staff member who can help. Does your family need help coping with the stress of your illness or recovery? Support groups and/or counseling can do that. Let your practitioners know you need it!

PARTICIPATING IN YOUR HEALTHCARE: 3. ASK QUESTIONS

Don’t hesitate to ask, “What does that mean?” if a physician says something that goes over your head. If you don’t ask, the practitioner will assume you understand all that is being said. Ask about surgery risks, expected outcomes, prescribed medications and therapies. Tell your physician, therapist, nurse, etc. what you hear them saying. Make sure you’re all on the same page before anyone leaves the room. You might even think of questions in the middle of the grocery store or while watching TV — write them down and ask them at your next appointment.

Remember, you are an active participant in your own healthcare. You are an expert on your body, your circumstances, your life. Your doctors are experts at what they do but they need your expertise on YOU in order to provide the best healthcare.

The winter season presents specific risks and challenges that can be exaggerated for older adults. We value the safety of our patients while they are with us and certainly once they go home. Because of this we believe that it’s important to be prepared for the risks that winter weather can bring. Here are seven safety tips to help mitigate those risks.

Keep warm. Older adults are at a greater risk of developing hypothermia — a dangerous drop in body temperature — during cold weather. Aging lowers one’s ability to withstand longer periods of cold, even from just sitting in a colder than normal room. Certain conditions and medications can also affect a person’s ability to sense cold, making them especially vulnerable. Because of this, older people should keep indoor temps above 65 degrees and look for the warning signs of hypothermia – shivering, cold and pale or ashy skin, abnormal fatigue, sudden confusion, and/or slowed breathing and heart rate. If you notice these symptoms call 911 immediately.

Avoid falls. While falls are a constant concern regardless of weather, seniors need to be especially vigilant in avoiding falls during the winter. Ice, snow, and mobility impeded by cold temperatures can wreak havoc on a normally safe environment. Given the particularly dangerous nature of falls in older adults, it is crucial for individuals and their loved ones to keep steps and walks clear of snow, ice, and other potential fall hazards. Be especially cautious when using canes, walkers, crutches, etc. on snow and ice.

Watch for wintertime depression. It’s not uncommon for older adults to alter their social engagements during the winter months because of the cold and inclement weather. While this seems like a good idea in terms of limiting exposure to winter illnesses and avoiding fall risks, it can actually have a negative impact on one’s mental and emotional well-being. Staying active and finding alternative social outlets is a big factor in avoiding wintertime depression. If you have older family members who are at risk of becoming isolated, make an effort to visit, call, or arrange activities to keep their spirits high.

Eat a varied diet. When it’s cold outside we’re less likely to get the sun exposure that we need for our bodies to produce Vitamin D, and we tend to eat a less varied diet. Eating foods with Vitamin D, like milk, grains, and certain seafood can help with this deficit. You might even talk with your doctor about taking a vitamin D supplement.

Prepare for emergencies. Winter storms can cause a variety of problems including long-lasting power outages and snowed- or iced-in conditions. It is essential to be prepared for such events before they occur. The CDC website has a wealth of information on preparing for extreme cold conditions. They have created a printable document – Extreme Cold Guide – that includes information for what to do before, during, and after a winter storm. Tips include storm preparation, safety checklists, and health information. This guide is a valuable clearinghouse for anyone preparing for winter weather. [1]

Drive safely. While safe driving practices are always paramount, hazards can be exaggerated during inclement weather. It is important to know one’s limits when it comes to operating a vehicle. If you don’t feel comfortable driving in ice and snow, ask a friend or family member for a ride. Another concern on the road is emergency preparedness. Make sure you have supplies in your car to keep you safe in case of a stranding or accident. Warm blankets and clothes, food, a flashlight, and an ice scraper should be standard equipment in the car. Always travel with a cell phone and charger in case you have an emergency. Another way to avoid problems is to have your car winterized by a trusted professional.

Maintain safe heating. It is vitally important to keep heaters, fireplaces, furnaces, etc. in good working order and free of clutter to avoid fires and carbon monoxide leaks. Beyond having these devices checked by a professional, you should have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Make sure the detectors are properly installed on every floor and are in good working condition. Each bedroom and sleeping area should have its own smoke detector. [2]

By following these basic safety tips you and your loved ones can reduce the risk of serious problems this winter. Stay warm and be safe!

Corpus Christi Rehabilitation Hospital is recognized among Top 10 Percent

Corpus Christi Rehabilitation Hospital has been ranked in the top 10 percent of inpatient rehabilitation facilities in the United States. The ranking was provided by the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation (UDSMR), a not-for-profit corporation that was developed with support from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, a component of the U.S Department of Education.

The UDSMR ranks rehabilitation facilities based upon care that is patient-centered, effective, efficient, and timely. Corpus Christi Rehab Hospital was ranked this past year out of 783 inpatient rehabilitation facilities nationwide.

“It’s an honor to be recognized as a national leader,” says Nick Nilest, CEO of Corpus Christi Rehabilitation Hospital. “I believe it’s a reflection of our serious commitment to the Corpus Christi community to continually strive to provide high quality rehabilitative care to our patients. But, what I’m most excited about is that we’re bringing nationally recognized care right here to our own community – meaning that our patients don’t have to leave the area to receive it.”

“Through UDSMR, we’re also able to help elevate rehabilitative care for everyone across the United States because we collaborate with peers to share information and establish best practices for patients,” Nilest continues.

UDSMR, which administers the world’s largest medical rehabilitation database, provides common language and measurement tools to monitor patient results. The data used for the most current ranking was based on 12 months of information from 2014 from both Medicare and non-Medicare patients. The results were combined and weighted into a score, and each facility was then assigned a percentile rank.

Due to a vast array of medical conditions, rehabilitation services are needed by many patients throughout the state. Depending on what the patient’s needs are, these 3 highly respected professionals in the medical field share what their facility offers and how treatments differ to facilitate the recovery of the patients and educate the readers looking ahead.

Nicholas Nilest PT, DPT is the Chief Executive Officer at Corpus Christi Rehabilitation Hospital. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky where he attended Bellarmine University, Nick received his Bachelor of Health Sciences and Minor in Biology. He further continued his education and received a Doctorate in Physical Therapy. Board certified and licensed to practice physical therapy by the Texas State Board of Physical Therapy and Kentucky State Board of Physical Therapy, Nilest is also Neuro-IFRAH certified to treat and manage adults who have suffered a brain injury or stroke. Nick has worked in many different settings of healthcare including Outpatient, Short Term Acute Care, Long Term Acute Care, Skilled Nursing, Home Health and Inpatient Rehab.

For six years, Nilest has been with Ernest Health System and in January of 2014, he accepted a position as the Chief Executive Officer of Corpus Christi Rehabilitation Hospital, the only free-standing rehabilitation inpatient facility in Corpus Christi. Earnest Health owns and operates…

The other day, I spent 10 minutes searching for my car keys, only to find them in my jacket pocket. Like most people, I tend not to pay much attention to something until I need it – even if it’s in an obvious place.

I think my situation is similar to rehabilitative care. Unless you need it, you may not give it much thought. But, did you know that most of us will require at least one rehabilitative service at some point in our lives?

Approximately 750,000 Americans suffer a stroke each year, and there are 6 million stroke survivors living in the United States. Most of these people will require some type of rehabilitation service during their healing process. That’s why we have been pleased to offer rehabilitative services for the past 2 years to the community through the Corpus Christi Rehabilitation Hospital, a 35-bed free-standing hospital. It’s the only free-standing inpatient rehabilitation facility in Corpus Christi.

Rehabilitation is a medical specialty that helps people recovering from disabling diseases or injuries. It can be effective for a myriad of people, including those recovering from orthopedic injuries, strokes, brain and spinal cord injuries, and other impairments as a result of injury or illness.

Patients who receive rehabilitative services often experience positive results in regaining or improving productivity and independence. For example, a recent national study shows that patients treated in inpatient rehabilitation facilities have better long-term results than those treated in skilled nursing facilities. The study, which was commissioned by the ARA Research Institute, shows that patients treated in rehabilitation hospitals live longer, have less hospital and ER visits, and remain longer in their homes without additional outpatient services.

These patients:

Returned home from their initial stay two weeks earlier.

Remained home nearly two months longer.

Stayed alive nearly two months longer.

In addition, patients who were treated in inpatient rehabilitation facilities experienced an 8% lower mortality rate and 5 percent fewer emergency room visits per year. These findings illustrate how significant inpatient rehabilitative care is to a patient’s healing process.

In addition to improving lives, rehabilitative care saves money as well. For example, for every $1 spent on rehabilitative care, it is estimated that $11 are saved on long-term disability costs.

While I don’t wish for any of us to need these services, the good news is that we have rehabilitative services available to us through the Ernest Health system — of which Corpus Christi Rehabilitation Hospital is a member — that is ranked in the top 10 percent nationally. That means that we need to look no further than our own backyard to find the best rehabilitative care available in the United States.

The ranking for the hospitals within the Ernest Health system is provided by the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation (UDSMR), a not-for-profit corporation that was developed with support from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, a component of the U.S Department of Education. It ranks rehabilitation facilities based upon care that is patient-centered, effective, efficient, and timely.

We continually strive to provide high quality care to our patients, so it’s exciting to be recognized as a national leader. But what I’m most pleased about are that patients right here in our community can receive the highest level of rehabilitative care available nationally without having to leave the area. And, through UDSMR, we collaborate with our peers throughout the United States to share information and establish best practices for patients. This helps us elevate rehabilitative care for everyone across the United States.

Corpus Christi Rehabilitation Hospital provides 24-hour rehabilitation nursing care and daily physician management through our full-time medical director – Dr. Michael Fuentes, who possesses more than 20 years of experience in physical medicine and rehabilitation. He is joined by a highly-trained, specialized team of healthcare professionals, including nurses, therapists and other professionals who create individualized treatment plans to allow each patient to progress at his or her ability level.

The hospital also features all private rooms, a well-equipped therapy gym, and an outdoor therapeutic courtyard. Patient services include occupational, physical, and speech therapy, a stroke program, and an amputation program.

We treat about 600 people a year whose average length of stay is 2 weeks. We consider it a privilege to be able to offer high-level rehabilitative care to the Corpus Christi area, and are honored to be a vital part of the community.

Recent Posts

About Ernest Health

Corpus Christi Rehabilitation Hospital is part of Ernest Health. Ernest Health provides specialized medical and rehabilitative services to our patients through our rehabilitation and long-term acute care hospitals. We treat patients who often are recovering from disabilities caused by injuries or illnesses, or from chronic or complex medical conditions.

Guiding Principles

As our Guiding Principles state, we promote a healing and nurturing environment where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. We are first and foremost passionate patient caregivers and team members, connected at our core by the treatment needs of our patients.